I don't think she ever skated this program again after that competition and it's too bad. I kind of wished she'd have given it another chance at some point and shown us what it should have been like when she was back in shape. Always liked it, even with the mistakes.
@intldawn@intldawn Depended on her base marks too. For her you'd think they'd be higher. Very few skated clean, so they had to look at the overall program, and other elements, and with an easier combination and week spins, it might have killed her. The program was good but seemed very lacklustre. It was so sad to see her like this
Apparently the chinese figure skating federation forced her to participate, even though she wasn't ready. Unfortunately, in such countries athletes don't really have the freedom to chose their own destiny like in America and other democratic countries. Luckily, her career has such high points that this won't be remembered really.
Does someone have the video of her qualifying skate? Lulu did not deserve such a low placing. :(
Funny.. of the current ladies, if flutzing queen Mao Asada, or the Korean lipper Yuna Kim, or ISU president's pet Carolina "Princess of telegraphing jumps" Kostner, skated a performance like this or botched two of their jumps, they'd still make the top 5 going into the free program. All the judges have to do is jack up the PCS scores!!
If Ottavio Cinquanta counted really something he should have helped Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margagljo at 2002 olympics... Italians don't have any political influence in ISU... And Kostner telegraphs only 2 jumps... the flip-toeloop combination and the luttz... Why don't we talk about Michelle "always overscored" Kwan or Sarah "the underrotation festival" Hughes or maybe Kimmie "triple flutz-triple toeaxel" Meissner...........
@willi4cyde There was no such thing as a qualifying round back in 1997. It's definitely cruel to place her so low, but the mistakes she made were very serious. Popping the single jump and the double axel into singles were 0.6 deductions each. The triple toe-double toe combination wasn't as difficult as the others and her spins were a little weak. Those deductions add up--but you'd think you'd get some sympathy tenths for being a world champion. She's still gorgeous.
@Egbert23 Ah, you are correct. Thanks for pointing that out. I don't remember the commentators ever mentioning the qualifying rounds back then, so perhaps that's why I thought that they didn't have them. Do you know if the qualifying rounds formed a percentage of the overall score back then? I don't remember them televising the qualifying rounds until a few years later when it was 20 percent of the final score.
@intldawn if I remember rightly, they did have qualifying rounds, but their results weren't carried over to the main competition, ie the short and long programs, I think it was in 1999 when the qualifying rounds actually made a contribution to the competition.
@intldawn I could be mistaken, but I thought that this performance was from the qualifying round. I know there was one year that she didn't make it out of the qualifying round because Peggy & Dick talked about it. At any rate, she did a very good job of interpreting the difficult music despite the failure on her jumps. Her spiral sequence is excellent and the spins were pretty good too. And Sandra Bezic's choreography is excellent as always.
No, I don't think so. The commentators said that this was her first competition of the whole year. The Grand Prix series would have long since been over. It's a shame because this program was so beautiful and sassy. A different side of Lulu to show off her versatility, musicality, and performance skills. I loved this program so much and it's a shame that she just wasn't in the kind of shape to put it all together. I liked Peggy's words for it: regal, even without the triple jumps.
Paris is as sexy as a piece of wood. Skinny without any kind of body whatsoever. And a skank. Britney well she's built like a linebacker what with that neck and tree stump legs.
I watched this program on TV in China. More or less, I know a little bit about what happened behind the competition. Actually, Lu Chen already had some problems with her coach (Ms. MingZhu Li) who is currently coaching Caroline Zhang in USA. She is totally capable to finish all these jumps, at least not too much major mistakes. (Chinese skater always try their best during the competition.)
Part 2: It's obvious that she didn't try her best in terms of techincal jumps. She skated this program badly just to push her coach out. As a result, she did change the coach in 1998 and win a bronze medal in Nagano Olympic Games.
These sound a bit far-fetched though. First of all, would anyone take on some much risk by skating badly and almost failing to qualify for the Olympics, just to bump his/her coach out? I would rather believe she was just in bad shape. As simple as that.
It is somewhat believable. Some skating federations play political games involving skaters and coaches. I look at Germany and Ingo Steuer as a prime example, plus how the French federation made Laetitia Hubert switch coaches.
Chinese coaching system is not the the same as in western countries. Lu Chen don't need to pay her coach. She didn't want to continue with her coach, but Chinese authority didn't agree. After this competition. She was interviewed in Chinese. She never said that she was not in shape, but her relation with her coach.
Chinese coaching system is not the the same as in western countries. Lu Chen don't need to pay her coach. She didn't want to continue with her coach, but Chinese authority didn't agree. After this competition. She was interviewed in Chinese. She never said that she was not in shape, but her relation with her coach.
All in all, I always love Lu Chen. She a wonderful Chinese skater in the world. She let Chinese people know more about figure skating and start to watch this sport on TV in China.
Chen may have the beauty and the artistry, but Bonaly has the FIRE as she melts the ice to the delight of one particular audience, which is me. She, not Tonya Harding, should have the label "Fire on Ice" applied to her. Chen should be also known as angel on the ice.......as it is with Sasha.
Part of the reason her marks were so low is because the single axel and the popped triple lutz both counted as omissions. 0.6 per mistake. So in the very best of situations her marks would have been mid 4's. Her footwork and spins weren't great, either. When the elements aren't there, the judges can't throw really high marks for presentation either. She probably still should have made the top 24, but the judges didn't have too much choice.
I think Lulu should have gotten in the top 24 at least. Unfortunately doing only a 3toe2toe made her base mark really low; think of Katarina Witt's short program in the 94 Olym.Add 2 pops= I'd give her a 4.3 for Req Elements and 5.6 for artistic imp. It sucks for her though since, if a judge tied her with someone else, the required element score would be the tiebreaker. In the long program it's the artistic mark, so bad luck for her. At least I'm happy she medaled at the 98 Olym.
Putting the outcome of this aside, I think she should have kept this short program because it was unbelievable and reflected her superior level in skating.
Musc: Take Five by Dave Brubek...I loved the music too...
Overal program: was quite nice, artistically, the jumps weren't quite there, but she did have better skating that some of those. As muffcat26, stated, about Sushan Humphreys, well after she withdrew, I think they should've upgraded Lulu, to 24th....my way of judging.! ~KJ
I agree that no way should her marks have been that low or outside the top 24. She should have had marks in the mid 4s for elements, and mid 5s for presentation. I am Canadian and Susan Humphries, a no name skater from Canada fell on 2 jumps, just as big of mistakes and more disruptive artisitcaly then Lu's, and finished 24th to bump her out(then withdrew with injury anyway).
WOW, with the omissions, and not skating at all in the GP series that year, no wonder she got scores in the 3.0s. SHE really brought herself down a few notches in the eyes of the judges. I know ABC didn't show the K&C after her performance, but is there any footage of that out there?
even with the quality of her skating you still need the jumps. As Dick Button said, she couldn't receive any credit for her jumps, which what the short program is about
"The short program is just about jumps". WHAT? You're crazy. The short program is about 8 required elements, not just the 3 jumps. And those elements are only half the score...the technical component.
Obviously this was a flawed performance but I still fail to see how she didn't make the top 24, considering that kind of skating that usually happens in those lower rankings.
you don't need to be so aggressive. I mean you need the jumps as much as presentation. And without the jumps even with her high quality she made too many mistaked and lost a full point for required elements. next time please don't be so rude or aggressive.
I don't think she ever skated this program again after that competition and it's too bad. I kind of wished she'd have given it another chance at some point and shown us what it should have been like when she was back in shape. Always liked it, even with the mistakes.
CanDan24 1 year ago
Her costume is gorgeous! :)
Ugnele 1 year ago
Damn she looks so fine in this video.
dsfddsgh 1 year ago
this music very well suited to her. i like it!
megaabler 1 year ago
I like some of the comments saying she was out of shape here. What???? If that's out of shape, good luck to the rest of us, right? hahaha
mlc2005 2 years ago 3
Yeah, I couldn't look that good on my best day.
intldawn 2 years ago
Breaks my heart to see her not doing so well in this competition.
Cosucoman 2 years ago
Anybody know what her scores were here?
mlc2005 2 years ago
Ridiculously low: she was into the high 3's for technical merit and the mid-4's for artistic. Heartbreaking.
intldawn 2 years ago 2
@intldawn @intldawn Depended on her base marks too. For her you'd think they'd be higher. Very few skated clean, so they had to look at the overall program, and other elements, and with an easier combination and week spins, it might have killed her. The program was good but seemed very lacklustre. It was so sad to see her like this
ChristineTheHippie 1 year ago
Apparently the chinese figure skating federation forced her to participate, even though she wasn't ready. Unfortunately, in such countries athletes don't really have the freedom to chose their own destiny like in America and other democratic countries. Luckily, her career has such high points that this won't be remembered really.
mlc2005 2 years ago 2
yeah she recovered at the 1998 Olympics.
JogaOhio 2 years ago
Lu Chen should have kept this program for the next season, for the Olympics.
lookscudkill 3 years ago 2
Does someone have the video of her qualifying skate? Lulu did not deserve such a low placing. :(
Funny.. of the current ladies, if flutzing queen Mao Asada, or the Korean lipper Yuna Kim, or ISU president's pet Carolina "Princess of telegraphing jumps" Kostner, skated a performance like this or botched two of their jumps, they'd still make the top 5 going into the free program. All the judges have to do is jack up the PCS scores!!
willi4cyde 3 years ago 12
If Ottavio Cinquanta counted really something he should have helped Barbara Fusar-Poli and Maurizio Margagljo at 2002 olympics... Italians don't have any political influence in ISU... And Kostner telegraphs only 2 jumps... the flip-toeloop combination and the luttz... Why don't we talk about Michelle "always overscored" Kwan or Sarah "the underrotation festival" Hughes or maybe Kimmie "triple flutz-triple toeaxel" Meissner...........
iceroby72 2 years ago
@willi4cyde There was no such thing as a qualifying round back in 1997. It's definitely cruel to place her so low, but the mistakes she made were very serious. Popping the single jump and the double axel into singles were 0.6 deductions each. The triple toe-double toe combination wasn't as difficult as the others and her spins were a little weak. Those deductions add up--but you'd think you'd get some sympathy tenths for being a world champion. She's still gorgeous.
intldawn 1 year ago
@intldawn not true. there was a qualifying group a and b
Egbert23 1 year ago
@Egbert23 Ah, you are correct. Thanks for pointing that out. I don't remember the commentators ever mentioning the qualifying rounds back then, so perhaps that's why I thought that they didn't have them. Do you know if the qualifying rounds formed a percentage of the overall score back then? I don't remember them televising the qualifying rounds until a few years later when it was 20 percent of the final score.
intldawn 1 year ago
@intldawn if I remember rightly, they did have qualifying rounds, but their results weren't carried over to the main competition, ie the short and long programs, I think it was in 1999 when the qualifying rounds actually made a contribution to the competition.
JP852 1 year ago
@JP852 That's right, you just had to qualify to skate Worlds, but then it didn't count. In 2007, qualifying was eliminaated
ChristineTheHippie 1 year ago
@intldawn I could be mistaken, but I thought that this performance was from the qualifying round. I know there was one year that she didn't make it out of the qualifying round because Peggy & Dick talked about it. At any rate, she did a very good job of interpreting the difficult music despite the failure on her jumps. Her spiral sequence is excellent and the spins were pretty good too. And Sandra Bezic's choreography is excellent as always.
SOLE2SOUL 6 months ago
Does she skate this programme better in say, a Grand Prix, or something???
OctopussInPants10min 3 years ago
No, I don't think so. The commentators said that this was her first competition of the whole year. The Grand Prix series would have long since been over. It's a shame because this program was so beautiful and sassy. A different side of Lulu to show off her versatility, musicality, and performance skills. I loved this program so much and it's a shame that she just wasn't in the kind of shape to put it all together. I liked Peggy's words for it: regal, even without the triple jumps.
intldawn 3 years ago
Paris is as sexy as a piece of wood. Skinny without any kind of body whatsoever. And a skank. Britney well she's built like a linebacker what with that neck and tree stump legs.
dsfddsgh 3 years ago
OMG...she looks so sexy here compared to the past...u go girl!!! ;) lol
stefan7171 4 years ago
I agree. She was one hot little mama here. Love how she shakes her body at the start of the program. Like Dick said it was working already. LOL
dsfddsgh 3 years ago
Totally!!! Her hair down, better makeup, eyebrows cleaned up, sexy & stylish outfit...she's lookin' fab-lash here! lol :P
stefan7171 3 years ago 2
This is how a woman can be sexy. Just goes to show that you don't have to be trashy or sleazy like a Britney or Paris to be sexy.
dsfddsgh 3 years ago 10
Oh of course...but let's not diss Britney & Paris..they are sexy as hell...esp Britney w/her curves!!!
stefan7171 3 years ago
Part 1:
I watched this program on TV in China. More or less, I know a little bit about what happened behind the competition. Actually, Lu Chen already had some problems with her coach (Ms. MingZhu Li) who is currently coaching Caroline Zhang in USA. She is totally capable to finish all these jumps, at least not too much major mistakes. (Chinese skater always try their best during the competition.)
sysunyu 4 years ago
Part 2: It's obvious that she didn't try her best in terms of techincal jumps. She skated this program badly just to push her coach out. As a result, she did change the coach in 1998 and win a bronze medal in Nagano Olympic Games.
sysunyu 4 years ago
These sound a bit far-fetched though. First of all, would anyone take on some much risk by skating badly and almost failing to qualify for the Olympics, just to bump his/her coach out? I would rather believe she was just in bad shape. As simple as that.
judeluo 4 years ago
It is somewhat believable. Some skating federations play political games involving skaters and coaches. I look at Germany and Ingo Steuer as a prime example, plus how the French federation made Laetitia Hubert switch coaches.
nhalifax 4 years ago
Chinese coaching system is not the the same as in western countries. Lu Chen don't need to pay her coach. She didn't want to continue with her coach, but Chinese authority didn't agree. After this competition. She was interviewed in Chinese. She never said that she was not in shape, but her relation with her coach.
sysunyu 3 years ago
Chinese coaching system is not the the same as in western countries. Lu Chen don't need to pay her coach. She didn't want to continue with her coach, but Chinese authority didn't agree. After this competition. She was interviewed in Chinese. She never said that she was not in shape, but her relation with her coach.
sysunyu 3 years ago
This is ridiculous!
ttmm12345 2 years ago
Part 3:
All in all, I always love Lu Chen. She a wonderful Chinese skater in the world. She let Chinese people know more about figure skating and start to watch this sport on TV in China.
sysunyu 4 years ago
Chen may have the beauty and the artistry, but Bonaly has the FIRE as she melts the ice to the delight of one particular audience, which is me. She, not Tonya Harding, should have the label "Fire on Ice" applied to her. Chen should be also known as angel on the ice.......as it is with Sasha.
elisan693 4 years ago
Part of the reason her marks were so low is because the single axel and the popped triple lutz both counted as omissions. 0.6 per mistake. So in the very best of situations her marks would have been mid 4's. Her footwork and spins weren't great, either. When the elements aren't there, the judges can't throw really high marks for presentation either. She probably still should have made the top 24, but the judges didn't have too much choice.
intldawn 4 years ago
I think Lulu should have gotten in the top 24 at least. Unfortunately doing only a 3toe2toe made her base mark really low; think of Katarina Witt's short program in the 94 Olym.Add 2 pops= I'd give her a 4.3 for Req Elements and 5.6 for artistic imp. It sucks for her though since, if a judge tied her with someone else, the required element score would be the tiebreaker. In the long program it's the artistic mark, so bad luck for her. At least I'm happy she medaled at the 98 Olym.
jimmypikachuchoi 4 years ago
Putting the outcome of this aside, I think she should have kept this short program because it was unbelievable and reflected her superior level in skating.
delayedricochet 4 years ago 5
Musc: Take Five by Dave Brubek...I loved the music too...
Overal program: was quite nice, artistically, the jumps weren't quite there, but she did have better skating that some of those. As muffcat26, stated, about Sushan Humphreys, well after she withdrew, I think they should've upgraded Lulu, to 24th....my way of judging.! ~KJ
MichelleKwanForever 4 years ago 2
I absolutely love this great piece of music, but Lu Chen skated a horrible, horrible SP. The SP is all about the jumps.
rickram1961 4 years ago
I agree that no way should her marks have been that low or outside the top 24. She should have had marks in the mid 4s for elements, and mid 5s for presentation. I am Canadian and Susan Humphries, a no name skater from Canada fell on 2 jumps, just as big of mistakes and more disruptive artisitcaly then Lu's, and finished 24th to bump her out(then withdrew with injury anyway).
muffycat26 5 years ago 3
WOW, with the omissions, and not skating at all in the GP series that year, no wonder she got scores in the 3.0s. SHE really brought herself down a few notches in the eyes of the judges. I know ABC didn't show the K&C after her performance, but is there any footage of that out there?
skatin4r2 5 years ago
How on earth did she not make the top 24. Her performance quality should have been enough to make up for the mistakes on the jumps.
Zuranthium 5 years ago 2
even with the quality of her skating you still need the jumps. As Dick Button said, she couldn't receive any credit for her jumps, which what the short program is about
coppertop1 5 years ago
"The short program is just about jumps". WHAT? You're crazy. The short program is about 8 required elements, not just the 3 jumps. And those elements are only half the score...the technical component.
Obviously this was a flawed performance but I still fail to see how she didn't make the top 24, considering that kind of skating that usually happens in those lower rankings.
Zuranthium 5 years ago
you don't need to be so aggressive. I mean you need the jumps as much as presentation. And without the jumps even with her high quality she made too many mistaked and lost a full point for required elements. next time please don't be so rude or aggressive.
coppertop1 5 years ago
You make no sense.
Zuranthium 5 years ago